Capricornio (rocket)

Capricornio

Function	Orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)
Country of origin	Spain
Size
Height	18.25 m (59.9 ft)
Diameter	1.00 m (3.28 ft)
Mass	15,035 kg (33,147 lb)
Stages	3
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	140 kg (310 lb)
Launch history
Status	Canceled
Launch sites	El Hierro
First stage – Castor 4B
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	429 kN (96,000 lbf)
Burn time	61 sec
Propellant	AP / HTPB
Second stage – Deneb-F
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	167.9 kN (37,700 lbf)
Burn time	35.6 sec
Propellant	Solid
Third stage – Mizar-B
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	50.29 kN (11,310 lbf)
Burn time	33.8 sec
Propellant	Solid
[edit on Wikidata]

Capricornio was a Spanish satellite launch vehicle developed by the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA) in the 1990s.^[1] It was intended to be Spain's first launcher.^[2]

Work on Capricornio started in 1990, INTA choosing to pursue a three-stage configuration. In concept, the launcher was to be a low-cost solution capable of placing up to 70 kg payloads, such as microsatellites, into 600 km polar orbits, or alternatively 60 to 140 kg payloads into low Earth orbit. In conjunction, INTA sought to establish the El Hierro Launch Centre from which it envisioned Capricornio being launched on a commercial basis.

There were allegations that aspects of Capricornio's design, such as its guidance system, had been derived from Condor missile developed by Argentina during the 1980s.^[3]

The Capricornio programme involved three phases, starting with the development of suitable rocket motors, progressing to the use of Capricornio's second and third stages together as the Argo sounding rocket, and finally the flight of the fully-assembled rocket itself. The first test launch of Capricornio, which was at one point scheduled to take place sometime in 1999, was never conducted as the programme was put on hold one year prior. The Capricornio program was formally cancelled during 2000 amid alleged foreign political pressure, competition from other launchers, and INTA's desire to focus on other endeavours.